Igniting the Sea
by The Sky Pirate Girl
Summary: Though at first awkward (they weren't exactly on the best of terms, and they had a deal hanging between them like a freezing reminder it should remain so), a conversation sprang forth and slowly started evolving into friendship (from the midnight sky to the rising sun). This folly continued on the third and the fourth night and almost ended abruptly with a dance on the fifth one.


**A/N: **This was written around the first few episodes of S1 when the characters weren't quite so flashed out and huge details weren't revealed yet (Belle and Bae's identity). Do for the sake of this fic, let your consciousness travel back in time to the first episodes of _Once Upon a Time_, to the sleepiness and subdued magic of Storybrook and the vulnerable Mary Margaret and the still-not-much-explored character of Mr. Gold/ Rumplestiltskin

**Prologue**

A lightening flashed, a thunder followed.

The stormy sky was all he could see from the little window of his dungeon and he wondered who the cruel person who built it was.

The once-man stretched out an arm, trying to feel the drops of freedom on his skin, but his tries were irrelevant.

He would strike a hundred deals if only the laughable excuse of a window, this crack in the wall could be a few centimeters bigger.

He laughed at the irony of his thought.

How many hours he stared at the storm that raged outside, he did not know, nor how much time it took for him to cool the storm in his heart (he thought that it would stay there, evermore – the only indication that, in fact, he did not have a hole in his chest).

Stiltskin was startled by the sound of a door being ripped open, and the voices of the guards and a sound so impossibly treasured –

"Rumplestiltskin! I have a question for you!" one of the guards asked.

"No you don't. They do... Snow White and Prince Charming!" He marveled at how his own voice sounded so inhuman now. But did he still own at least a small portion of humanity? His heart had been broken thrice and his soul had been stolen as a jest of fate. Even his powers were gone. Stinskin laughed yet again. "You insult me. Step into the light and take off those ridiculous cloaks." They complied.

_Skin as fair as snow, lips as red as wine, hair as black as night…_

"We came to ask –" the Prince began.

"Yes, yes I know why you're here!" he shouted. "You came to ask about the queen's threat…"

"Tell us what you know!" Snow demanded.

"Oh, intense are we?" He looked into driven eyes as green as the grass in those free lands he would never see again, eyes that held no reorganization, eyes unblinking from oblivion. "Fear not," he said. "For I can ease your mind… but… it's going to cost you something in return."

"No!" the Prince exclaimed. "This is a waste of time…" He murmured to his Queen.

"What do you want?" she asked and neared his bars.

So close…

_Remember! _His still human, still young heart pleaded, cried, begged from its cage. This mouth would not voice this plea. _God, remember!_

"The name of your unborn child." She looked at him, as if mesmerized by the simplicity of his request.

It was a simple wish, indeed, but as they probably would not get a mason to expand his window (and there was no time at all), this was his only desire.

"Absolutely _not_!" the Prince shouted, outrageos, as if the once-man had demanded the crown of his kingdom or the lips of his wife.

He had _every_ right to know the name of her unborn child.

"Deal!" Snow said through gritted teeth. "What do you know?"

"The queen has created a powerful curse. And it's coming…" he began quietly. "Soon you'll all be in prison, just like me, only worse – your prison, all of our prisons will be Time. " Snow looked at him with horrified eyes, her breaths coming in irregularly. "The Time will stop and we will be trapped. Someplace horrible where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity. But the queen celebrates, victorious at last!" He looked at her, willing his eyes to swallow her whole, for his mind to remember every detail in her soft features he had forgotten since their last encounter. "No more happy endings…"

"What can we do?" she asked him.

"Nothing!"

"Who can?"

"The little thing growing inside your belly…" He slowly outstretched his arm again, this time towards her swollen stomach, towards his unborn daughter, and his breath hitched and it felt almost like magic –

The Prince threatened with the blade of his sword and he withdrew his hand by instinct.

No touch…

_His finger gently traced her profile, his curls falling in her face as he leaned into her and she laughed, because they tickled._

"_A dance, my lady?" he asked with a graceful bow, holding out a pale hand. Having her own in his quickly appeased him to stillness but he soon settled into the comforting hum of the fire, and a dance as quiet as the forest's whispers followed._

_In the gentleness of the night, as she lay in bed curled around him like a kitten, he whispered to her stories unheard from many still, stories he himself thought up and she asked him how it was possible that someone who could tell a tale so divine, could ever be deemed bad._

Stiltskin then told of the prophecy concerning the child and he was left alone again (but first she had given into him and he now knew that his daughter's name was Emma, a word he would engrave into his very essence so it won't ever be forgotten). He sat on his bed once more and looked at the shy Moon, hidden between two clouds.

This storm had ended, but soon a far greater one would unravel and there would be no more beauty, and no more memories of great loves and great battles and great heroes.

But he knew he would find a way to her again.

It was a part of her deal with him.

Through Time, or a thousand seas…

Through Mists, or a million miles…

Through Oblivion, or a hundred memories…

Part One**: Desperate need**

The darkness in his heart sensed the deal and led him straight to it, similar to a gull sensing the nearness of the ocean.

The first thing he thought as he saw the face that rested beneath the glass was: _'She's not nearly as beautiful as she is said to be. Not nearly so as some others I've seen.'_

But then again, Stiltskin knew that not nearly everything was as fair and perfect as it was said to be. Helen of Troy for instance, he thought half-seriously, (he knew of her legend from that other world he sometimes visited for his more prospering deals), she was probably not as pretty but merely a delusional lie fed to the historians by the Greeks, so as for their conquest not to seem without a good occasion. It was impossible for a whole nation to enter a war just because the wife of one of its kings eloped with another.

Stiltskin removed the glass of her coffin and sat on its corner. He touched the woman's cold cheek, willing his mind to penetrate hers.

"What is it you desire, princess?" he asked Snow White, though it was more out of habit than genuine curiosity (what could a cursed princess want the most?)

"_Wake me up! Wake me UP!_" she screamed from inside her head. "_I'm not dead!_"

"But surely your Prince Charming is well on his way to you!" Stiltskin exclaimed in a mocking sort of hope.

"_I don't care! Wake me up!_" He smiled.

"I can, of course, do that... but not without a promised something in return..."

"_Anything,_" he heard her breathe and finally a face came with the voice. The expression the princess wore in his vision was anything but the one of serenity on the woman that laid cold underneath his palm.

Stilskin's smile curled even more upwards, forming a wicked grin.

"Deal." If the single word could be described in a panting it would be one of webs and promised hopes.

In her desperation to be free, Snow carelessly threw herself into them.

He moved his hand away from her pale cheek and stood up.

He was not planning on kissing her, of course. God, no. That would mean breaking his own curse and he had already put too much, lost too much in order to retrain it.

With a snap of his fingers, the girl shot up from what was supposed to be her eternal rest (and nightmare) and gasped for sweet air.

She did not know it then (and he was ignorant to the trials of the future), but with her last word, 'anything', she had pulled at a thread of Fate that from then on would slowly unravel and decide the destiny of the entire word.

* * *

"You see, I don 't usually help damsels in distress, not as of recently at least," he confided her as a fire loomed before them. Snow shivered as she finally took in the appearance of the creature that had saved her.

How unorthodox for a fairy-tale. Saved not by her prince, but by Rumpelstiltskin.

But, as she observed him, there was something in his eyes that made her ask of the reason why he had bothered then - a dying light that was perhaps caused by the reflection of the fire in his glassy eyes (they reminded her so much of the night sky she had looked at every night through the window of her room, wherever that was - a muted wilderness that called her in, a thrilling sense of danger that lulled her to dream).

"When a princess promises one anything, and really means it, how can one refuse?"

"Ah, about that..." He watched her squirm in silent panic. "What is my part of the deal? What do you want me to do?"

"Dear," Stiltskin replied, taking a goblet of wine that had come literally out of nowhere, to his dry lips. "You did say _'anything'_."

Cold dread then wove itself into Snow's heart and - as she refused the monster's offer of a goblet of her own - she thought that it would not go away for a while.

The night settled more heavily in the dark part of the Forest they had taken refuge in.

Stiltskin laid on the hard ground, as if completely unperturbed by the uncomfortable-ness of it all.

Snow glared at his back. Then, with a sigh, she turned her gaze to the crackling fire.

_My prince..._ She thought with a clenched heart. _Why did you not come to me?_

Sooner or later, she knew he would have, but Heavens, why wasn't it sooner?

Before she became enslaved to this...

Snow returned to glaring at Stiltskin's back. How could he sleep so peacefully, so unbothered?

She had the feeling she would never want to close her eyes, ever again.

"So," she heard him say from behind her in the morning, taking a bite from the perfectly red apple in his hand. "What's the deal with yourself and the queen? No pun intended, of course."

"I did something unforgivable to her," Snow shamefully admitted, slopping her shoulders just a bit.

"Oh?" Stiltskin cooed, not bothering to look at her. "What would that be?"

"I deprived her of her heart -" And the guilt and the consequences would haunt her till her dying day. "I deprived her of her lover."

_Gentle, warm smiles. Advices that had shaped so much of her in so little time. Eyes filled with love and hope, and light... Gone, suffocated because of a secret she had betrayed to her friend's mother. Forgiveness was gained but was it desired? The man her friend loved had been murdered in front of her very eyes._

In the darkness of the night, as Snow had battled with unwanted sleepiness, she had wondered if the Queen's nightmare was similar to her now lifted curse. Had her blinded eyes been striving for light all this time as well? A light that had long since departed from our world?

Stiltskin replied with nothing, choosing to simply walk forward, ahead of her.

"What do you plan to do with me?" Snow asked him, trying to match her pace with his. "Surely you won't drag me to your... dark estate, and make me your work slave or the like?" she asked, doubtlessly imagining her life in an apron, washing the floor of Rumelstiltskin's house.

He found himself stopping, and his heart that was so damaged and deformed that no one would ever recognize it for what it was, filling with seething rage.

"_Never,_" he hissed.

He had had his fair share of bad experiences with _maids_.

"Forgive me for persisting," Snow continued after a while, attempting to ignore the emotion in his words. "But surely you must understand the instability of my situation. What _do_ you plan to do with me?"

For the first time in a honestly long while, Rumpelstiltskin was at loss of ideas.

He could always ask for her first-born, or her virginity (like he had done with that miller's daughter, Regina, but that had turned out more than a handful), but she had vowed she would give him _anything_.

What does a man do with so much power granted, and so many opportunities and possibilities as 'anything' opened?

What _would_ he do with her?

* * *

"Where are we going?" Snow asked him, walking beside him.

"To the 'Ugly Duckling'."

"To what?"

"The 'Ugly Duckling' is an inn in the Forest, my dear. Twilight is falling and this part of the wood is dangerous by night."

"And then what? Have you decided yet what is my favor? Because I have other work, you know that? Other than following you, Rumpelstiltskin."

"Oh, we'll see," he muttered, still not set on what his desire was. "But you needn't worry, princess! Not yet, at least... Soon we'll both go on our merry ways and won't see each other for a while after that."

Snow sighed.

The inn was full of all kinds of creatures - but mostly dwarves and wanderers.

When the young princess turned to her... what? Captor? Enslaver? Companion?

Never mind.

When she turned to him, she saw that his face was covered by a cloak.

"For disguise, you see. As I'm rather popular in those circles. Rather 'wanted', perhaps is a better way to form it."

They sat on a table and ordered dinner.

"Tell me something, Rumpelstinskin," Snow inquired.

"Ask and I will decide if I'll answer."

"Why do we travel together?" _What an idiotic question_, Stiltskin thought.

"I couldn't let you venture to Charming's kingdom on your own, of course. I'm rather protective of the lives of those who owe me a favor."

"Only because you'll gain something from them," she said through gritted teeth. "And anyway, I could take care of myself! I know this forest like the palm of my hand!" Snow boasted. "I have fended well on my own for those last few years."

"But of course, my dear," he said with a smile. "And yet, if you could truly fend well on your own, I wouldn't have had to step in, isn't that so?" Snow opened her mouth to retort, but the words died on her lips as she seemed to hear something that caught her attention.

"That Rumpelstiltskin!" it came in a hushed whisper.

Snow turned to look at the maid who had taken their orders. The woman was talking to one of her customers.

"Why do you whisper his name, woman? It's not like that vile creature could hear you!" A man, possibly from the near village, judging by the looks of it, boomed. "I don't fear him! Let him come and turn me to a frog, like he did with the prince of Maldona."

"Why ever did you make a bargain with this man?"

"He's no man and I was in desperate need! I owed gold to the Hunter, and I couldn't return it, because that would mean destitution for my family," the villager said angrily.

"But the price..."

"Has to be paid."

"Isn't there a way to escape from him? To off the deal?" The maid asked, worried.

"Foolish woman! Haven't you heard that no one can escape from Rumpelstiltskin's deals? Only my death can release me. Now _that's_ a price too high." The man then proceeded to throw his swears and curses to wherever the dealmaker was, and Snow regarded the disguised creature sitting next to her. From what she could see from behind the cloak, he looked unbothered.

But why would he be bothered, after all? He was probably used to such violent reactions. Still... it seemed so lonely, so sad, and it made her reach unconsciously toward him (thinking of how lonely she had felt all those years between the suffocating walls of her kingdom's palace).

She covered his ears with her hands, as if trying to banish the man's words. Though he did not care for them, he appreciated her effort.

Princesses usually have hearts too good (and too easily breakable and breaking).

If he leaned ever-so-slightly into her palm, only she would know.

They sat next to each other in silence, while the maid came and served them their dinner with a smile.

Dinner was better than the last thousand dinners he had (maybe because for the first time he was both warm and with company that did not want to kill him, not really).

* * *

Stiltskin paid their room (one, for her safety - a girl shouldn't have a lone room in an inn in the forest, where all kinds of criminals lurked) with his spun gold and was the perfect gentleman all night (after all, no matter how ugly he was, he could be more charming than anyone, if he as much as wished; years of his kind of business taught him that).

She seemed nervous still, about laying in the same bed with him, and he knew she wouldn't blink all night.

Sleeping in the same bed with the Forest's most feared creature was thrilling for Snow White.

She warily laid on the corner of the mattress and felt her breath escape as she felt the weight of the covers on her.

Soon the bed hiccupped from surprise, as Rumpelstinskin settled next to her.

"Night, Snow White," he said, laughter in his voice, but he turned his back to her.

He smelled like forest and leather, she noticed with irritation.

"Night," she squeaked, looking for some comfort in her slightly musty pillow.

He blew the fire of the candle away and night settled in the room.

She couldn't fall asleep, even if the darkness treacherously tried to lull her to.

* * *

"Ruby! Don't!" Mary Margaret said through laughter.

"Why? It's not as if he'll notice! He has so many roses in his garden, would it matter f I took precisely... _this_ one?" And Ruby tore the rose away from its bush, bringing it close to her nose. "It smells amazing!"

"You shouldn't have stolen it!"

"Why do you care? He's a Mr. Scrooge from the inside, no matter how seductive the outside looks! He's the most unlovable person I've ever had the misfortune to meet -"

"Ruby!"

"- and I doubt anyone could have ever truly liked him! And if he's going to make the rent so high, well then - I deserve to have this bloody rose!"

Mary Margaret bit her lip.

"Come on, let's go," she said, taking her friend's hand and leading her out. "All for a single rose..."

"It wasn't only the rose!"

"He could have found us!" She sighed yet again. "... Doesn't matter, let's just hurry."

In this exact moment, Mary Margaret looked up and her green eyes met Mr. Gold's dark ones. He was looking at them through the open window of his house, yet his expression was unreadable and he didn't appear like he was going to try to stop them.

Ruby hadn't noticed him at all.

After dreams her heart half remembered, as she tossed in her bed, Mary Margaret wondered: why was it that she always forgot her dreams? What were they about? And most importantly - why did they feel like something important, something especially dear, something she had to remember at all costs? As if she was doing something wrong in not-remembering -

Maybe she was just over-analyzing things. Maybe her dreams were about the rose... Yeah, that felt about right.

Must have been the redness of the rose. It was indeed a mesmerizing color. No wonder Ruby loved it so much...

Dream came back to her, like a persistent lover and she couldn't help but throw herself back into its arms.

It didn't matter if she wouldn't remember what it was all about in the morning.

Her heart remembered the feeling.

* * *

"Well, well - we're almost near the end of the forest, princess! Who would've thought we could get along quite so well?" Rumpelstiltskin exclaimed.

"Such an achievement!" Snow replied dryly and then looked away, to the sky.

_Charming... why did you not come to save me? Or better else: why did you make me believe that I could rely on you, that I would not have to save myself?_

_And yet... why does my heart still ache so much to see you? Why does my soul soar higher and higher, with each step towards you, despite the bitterness of my disappointment?_

"Have you..." she began, a bit lost in her own thoughts. "Have you ever had your heart broken, Stiltskin?"

She realized who she had spoken to, the moment she said his name and almost winced.

Snow thought he wouldn't say another thing till they reached the last trees of the woods, but he then replied:

"Yes."

Only the brokenness of her own voice made him tell her.

"Really?" she asked, as though she had just figured that this meant he possessed a heart of his own.

Stiltskin laughed.

"Don't find it so hard to believe, Snow White! Look at me and you'll see every answer you seek."

The woman regarded him and her cheeks colored.

"You're not... I mean it doesn't... Not really..." She struggled for words. "I don't think appearances matter if it's true love."

He couldn't help but laugh yet again - it came out hysterical and bitter.

"She still believes in true love! True love... is a fairy-tale, princess, and in the bad sense of the word, I mean - a delusion for the people who are either too weak to strive in life, or just want to depend on someone... or simply wish to believe in something."

"Is it so bad to believe something could be so ultimate and powerful that it can overcome everything?"

"If it blinds you."

"How was your heart broken?" He almost stopped walking when she asked him this.

The question escaped from her lips, as she looked at him with the corner of her eye.

"If... if it's not too invading to ask, that is."

"The way all hearts are broken, how else?" he seethed angrily. "First - when my son ran away from the sight of what I've become. Then this woman - Belle- when she died."

He was a human?

A human with a son and a love and a broken heart...

"What about your wife?"

"My wife?"

"Your son's mother. What happened to her?"

"She left me because of my cowardice. No 'true love' there, that's for certain."

Snow White was thrilled at the fact that _Rumpelstiltskin_ told her about such a private part of his life.

In a way - no matter how _utterly_ bizarre it was - she felt as though she... befriended the Beast a little.

But was he really just a Beast?

When they reached the border of the forest and could already see the palace of Prince James, Stiltskin stopped.

"This is where we part ways, Snow White..."

"It is," she agreed and turned towards him, as if feeling the need to bid a more proper goodbye. "Well..."

He would save her all that.

"Look after yourself, princess! I wouldn't want my deal to be ruined, because the Queen finally got you. And send my regards to that charming prince of yours too."

He turned his back to her and began to walk towards the depths of the woods.

"Rumpelstiltskin!"

He swiftly turned. What more could there be?

"Yes, princess?"

"You too... look after yourself!" she shouted, as she was already a bit far from him.

He was baffled, just a little.

"I most certainly will! Well then, until _our next meeting_... whenever it is..." he said darkly, but his words held a promise that the next time they saw each other, it would be when she returned that favor of hers.

This time they both turned away from each other and did not look back.

* * *

Why did he not come when she needed him the most? Why did he doubt her in her most critical moment?

Why did he chose _her_?

Mary Margaret knew it was wrong, wanting David for herself (this want was ruining her, it made her feel rotten and evil), but each time she saw him, she couldn't stop thinking about silly things as true love and Prince Charming and that in a world where everything was right, he would be with _her_, and not with Kathryn.

But such world did not exist.

And if he was her true love then _why did he not come when she needed him the most_?

Why had he deluded her with promises of happiness, promises he could not keep? What was she supposed to do now, to make out of herself?

Perhaps the notion of true love, and David Nolan, were just childish dreams she needed to let go.

Perhaps she really needed to get over those two things, in order to grow up, and to become more mature.

Not all loves that hold so many moments which make one sure 'these two are meant for each other and should be together till the end of time' have the chance to survive.

And it broke Mary Margaret's heart.

The truth burned it and she was sure that it would leave a scar which would always remain there.

Maybe she would be alone all her life.

Maybe she would find someone better one day (though certainly not anytime soon).

But...

She _would_ go on.

_Why did you not come when I needed you the most?_

* * *

The Queen visited him in the dungeon last night and she asked him about the curse he'd given her.

To far too many, he was on her side. He certainly wasn't on the side of Prince James or anybody else for that matter, save one.

In his world, creatures like him did not get 'happily ever after'.

Everything was way too ruined for a chance so bright. Too many chances of such fashion were wasted, too many obstacles stood between himself and happiness.

Stiltskin laid on the poor excuse of a bed and looked at the dark sky above through the crack of the wall in the dungeon. He thought of the other world, and the impressions he had on it. Good or bad, wonderful or ugly, it would be where he would spend the reminder of his life there.

If his daughter did not come to save them all, it would be one long and monotone life, but well...

Emma... she was his only chance. He hoped she'd learn how to cope in that other world. But she'd have her mother (he doubted they'd let the child on its own for twenty eight years) and he knew that Snow was a survivor.

* * *

Rumpelstiltskin could feel that someone was watching him from behind one of the trees.

"Why do you hide, little mouse? Come out, come out! Wherever you may be..."

There was a snarl and within seconds all he could see was the color red and the brilliance of a blade. He was crushed against a tree and the creature was squeezing his throat.

"I hear that you love making deals, Rumpelstiltskin!" it - _she_ snarled.

"Well, well - if it isn't the little Red Riding Hood!" he manage to squeak. She tightened her grasp.

"You have bewitched something precious of mine! I want you to return it to me!"

"You wish to strike a deal with me?" he asked after her fingers loosened and he choked to breathe again.

"Oh, yes . But I'll be the one to decide the terms - _your life_ for my lover."

"Your lover?" He hardly remembered enchanting any lover of hers.

"Gaston. I think you may recognize _this_ name," she seethed.

"Gaston? Gaston? Ha! I'd never have thought, him being engaged and all that! But who am I to judge?" Rumpelstiltkin added, after he saw the murderous intent behind Red's eyes.

"Tell me - is he alive?"

"Alive? You could say that..." In his old domain nothing could die, or wither, or waste away.

Neither a living creature, nor a memory.

"Then return him to me!" she roared.

"Red! Rumpelstiltskin!" How unexpected to see _her_ of all people. But, perhaps not so much - Snow White _was_ Red Riding Hood's best friend. "What's going on?" she asked. Rumpelstinskin turned to his attacker.

"Go to my castle. He'll be waiting for you there, his curse - broken. _Do not_ try to enter anywhere beyond the gates. If you do..." He smiled wickedly. "Well then - I'd have to hire a gardener."

The woman nodded, and ran past her best friend like the wind. Rumpelstiltskin turned to Snow and smiled.

"Snow White! How _charming_ to see you again!"

"What the hell happened just now, Stilstkin?" she demanded.

"Ah - that. I guess your friend offered me an irresistible deal. Life-saving, I would say," he said, massaging his almost crushed throat.

"What did she want?"

"Something I did not know I possessed - her lover." The woman looked at him in surprise and nodded. After a few moments of silence, he asked: "But tell me - how does your highness fare? I heard you've announced the date of your wedding to prince Charming! - next month, correct?" Snow White slowly nodded again. "You happy?"

"I am..." She looked down, but soon her eyes sprung back to him, full of emotion. "You know, when I arrived at the palace, I was told he had gone to the forest to save me. It turned out we've missed each other by a few hours."

"How unfortunate for you then - to strike such a life-altering deal."

"Indeed," she agreed sourly.

"Anyway, what are you doing in the woods, princess?" he soon asked .

"I was originally going to Cinderella's ball with Red, but I guess that I'll be going only with my guards now. And James is held by an important matter and he'll come later," she said, her tone still carrying the feeling of her fallen spirit.

"Ah, perhaps I'll be seeing you there then - I'm also going to Ella's..." Snow looked at him darkly.

"Let me guess: another deal? Won't you ever stop making those, Stiltskin?"

"Only when the people stop wanting to make them," Rumpelstiltskin replied. He then paused, as if listening for something. "I hear your guards call for you, Snow White. Perhaps you ought to go." She frowned and looked around. "If you ever get bored with their company - and most probably you will, seeing as guards are almost always quite impossibly dull, and the way to Cinderella's kingdom is a week atthe best circumstances - only say my name and I'll come. Since we'll practically be travelling together, I won't be much far away..."

When she turned to look at him, he was gone. In a few seconds her guards appeared.

"Your highness! We've been searching for you! Where is your friend?" the oldest of the nights asked her.

"She had an important business to attend to."

* * *

What kind of madness possessed her, she did not know - but on the second night when everyone save the night watch was asleep, Snow sneaked out of her carriage and into a meadow in the safe distance.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" she whisper-shouted.

"I just _knew_ you'd call me!" he said with a grin, when he appeared.

Though at first awkward (they weren't exactly on the best of terms, and they had a deal hanging between them like a freezing reminder it should remain so), a conversation sprang forth and slowly started evolving into friendship (from the midnight sky to the rising sun).

This folly continued on the third and the fourth night and almost ended abruptly with a dance on the fifth one. For when he asked her for a dance (in a half-joking manner) and she agreed, in the close distance which such activity required, she managed to see something in that golden face of his that made her heart flutter. It was then, when by instinct (or despite of it) she attempted to close the distance between their lips.

He tore himself from her.

"Don't," the single word came out so full of terror and pain that her heart clenched.

Hurt by the rejection, Snow wordlessly returned to her carriage, where she questioned what were her motives and feelings in the first place.

* * *

Once, Mary Margaret finally remembered one of her dreams. She awoke from it in the morning and decided to write it down in her notebook, so that she would not forget it when she fell asleep again.

_I dreamed a dream. In it, I am in love with two men, as different as the morning light and the twilight's obscurity. I have the first, who feels to me like David (though I do not see his face), but my heart aches for the latter. I cannot remember who he reminds me of, for he is vaguely familiar, but he's both beautiful and terrible, gaunt and golden. And he's cursed, and he's not the most handsome man in the classic sense of the word, but he's __**mine**__ at some point and I love him._

_In my dream, I look at him through the bars of a cage - or a dungeon, or a prison cell, I cannot tell- and my heart screams something, but my head does not remember. And as he reaches out for me, I - in my half-oblivion - flinch away._

_We turn into shadows - and maybe we scream, maybe we whisper in our attempts to be heard - but even if there ever is a sound that escapes from our lips, it is swallowed by the darkness._

_And it feels to me as though I've dreamed this dream before, a lifetime ago. And every single night since then._

If something in that imagery painted by her consciousness made her cry, only the night would know...

* * *

The next time she saw him, it was on Cinderella's ball. He had spun the princess mockingly and had not even bothered to look at _her._

And then the plan hatched, about his imprisonment and it did not settle well within her.

She would be free of her part of the deal, as he would be unable to come to collect his debt, so then _why_ did she not want to see him behind those cursed bars?

"Rumpelstiltskin!" she shouted, once she was sure no one else was in Cinderella's garden (they would come only a few hours later, to prepare everything for the trap).

"You called, dearie?" he asked from behind her. He always had this irritating habit.

"Don't answer Cinderella's call... It's - it's a trap... They'll chain you and imprison you in a place where even you wouldn't be able to escape!" He looked at her in wonderment.

"Why do you betray your friends?" he simply asked, after a while.

"I... I..." she could not answer.

He, destroying all personal space, came so close to her she could smell tree musk and leather again. His eyes looked oddly serious and he had never looked more human to her than right then.

He leaned into her, as though he'd whisper something, but turned her head in the last moment and embraced her. She closed her eyes.

_James. James. James..._ Her head chanted.

_Too late. Too late..._ Her heart retorted.

Always too late.

* * *

What was he doing? Why was he doing it? This was Snow White, not Belle, not his wife, not some foolish maiden he wanted to trick.

And yet...

He did not want to stop.

She appeared to have the same desire as him.

_"Deals are made of wishes. Who am I to destroy them? " He told her on the second night._

He drew her to his arms.

She weaved her arms around his neck, kissing him closely to the mouth.

"You can never kiss me," he told her.

_"Hearts can be mended, Rumpelstiltskin. If only they would be opened again for sunlight and love and trust," she told him on the third night and he inwardly cried out in response to those words - it had taken him a ruined love, Belle's life and Snow White's words , to finally understand this truth. But was he willing to accept it?_

She couldn't breathe - her heart battered inside her stomach like a blue bird in the forest. She felt half-dazed, half-delirious from an impossible need.

"I won't. I won't," she vowed.

There, in the gardens of princess Cinderella, the final thread of fate was pulled an the future of the Enchanted Forest was decided.

They were gone from the gardens when prince Thomas' wife came, calling Rumpelstiltskin for a new deal up to no avail.

Snow White had disappeared mysteriously and was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

On the morning, he was awoken by a painful _snap_ in his heart.

_What? What happened?_

Magic was disrupted, changed. The futures he could see were shifted so suddenly -

He then remembered that the only thing he could not know was the future of things that concerned him (how many tragedies would have been avoided otherwise).

But what could have caused a change so sudden?

This seed of magic he felt...

No...

Could it be?

"Snow, wake up!" he shook her.

She opened her eyes, obviously distraught.

_'Oh, no! What have I done?' _was her first thought. James! She had betrayed him! She had betrayed everyone!

It was like a nightmare come true.

And yet... she could not will her heart to feel true regret.

_"What if you can have more than one true love? What if true love is a legend, what if it is nothing as long as you love truly, and are truly in love, and not the other way around? What if 'true love' is mortal? And who's to say it was true at all, and not just a romantic notion of a silly heart?"_

"Snow!" She figured he'd call her only that, not Snow White or princess - last night did remove a lot of walls between them.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You... you're with a child." Her heart snapped, frozen.

"What?" Her voice came a note too high. "How can you tell so soon?"

"Trust me, I can tell these things. It's a part of the job requirement - to know what kind of a deal I have the opportunity to make," he told her, looking at her flat stomach, as if mesmerized.

_Oh, no... oh, no... What __**have**__ I done?_

She abruptly stood up and started to get dressed.

"I just... I need to think what will I do from now on..." she quickly told him and shot away from her like an arrow.

Things were happening so fast!

* * *

For a few days she behaved as normally as she could, but by the end of her visit to Ella's she decided she didn't want to return to her palace with James, but to go to Red's for an advice instead.

She barely stopped for a rest till she reached her friend's cottage, where she found her along with Granny and Gaston.

"Snow? What's wrong?" Red asked as Snow White threw herself into her arms, weeping. The woman in red motioned to her family to leave them alone, which they did, and started caressing her friend's hair soothingly. "What is it?" She asked again.

"I'm p- I'm pregnant," Snow stuttered.

"But... but that's good news! Why are you so distraught? Your wedding isn't that far away, people won't blame you if you give birth a little bit earlier..." Red comforted.

Snow wept harder.

"It isn't James'!"

"It isn't - _What?_"

"It's Rumpelstiltskin's!"

"_What?_ Oh, the little imp! So that's what he wanted from you for that deal, after all..." Red yelled in rage.

"No... no... I..." Her voice broke. "I gave myself willingly to him."

Red looked at her as though she was raving mad.

"You may _think_ that, but I'm sure he enchanted you in some way... "

"It's not like that... I think I'm... I'm falling in love with him."

"_What?_ Okay, I need to stop saying that. _How_ can you be in love with _Rumpelstiltskin_?"

"I don't know, alright? My heart must be blind!"

"Blinder than a mole, for sure!" Red agreed, still shocked by the news.

"Oh, Red, what am I to do? What am I to tell James? How can I lie him? How can I look at him in the eyes and pretend nothing happened, that the child is his?"

"If it will look like a human at all..." Red said darkly.

"It will, I'm sure. You see, he was a man once. He says that true love's kiss is the only thing that breaks his c-curse but... maybe only it can steal away his magic, because last night he looked as human as you and me!"

"Snow..." Red breathed, a bit dazed. "I need to sit down. All this _information_..."

A few mugs of hot chocolate with cinnamon later and both women had calmed down as much as they could in a situation as grave as the given.

"_Do you_ want to return to James, Snow?" Red asked quietly, looking at her mug as though it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

"I love him!"

"This wasn't the question -"

"It's just..." Snow trailed off.

"You have feelings for your child's father," Red stated.

"I - yes."

"I can give you a thousand advices, my friend," Red told her as she finally looked her friend in the eyes, "but none of them will be truer than the one than your heart gives you."

"But what _does_ my heart tell me?" Snow whispered, confused and angry.

"Just give an ear. I know you will hear it, with those big ears of yours," Red said lightly and cracked a short laugh. Snow gave her a watery smile and closed her eyes.

When did it become so hard to listen to her own heart? When had her mind began to take over her soul?

"It tells me..." Snow told Red finally. "It tells me that I want..."

* * *

"Rumpelstiltskin!" She felt the warmness of his body behind her.

"You called?" he asked, but this time there was nothing light in his voice.

"I did," she said softly.

"What is it you wish, princess Snow White?"

"I wish to know what is _your_ wish, Stiltskin."

"_My_ _wish_?" he asked slowly, as though no one had ever asked him such question. "I wish-"

"And speak to me truly! For you've been known to lie in difficult situations!" Rumpelstiltskin nodded slowly.

"I wish to be there for this child, as I was unable to be there for my son. I wish to see if there is even a chance of being loved by someone, as I hadn't dared to see before."

Snow smiled.

"I was hoping that this would be what you wished."

They had the same desires.

It was enough for now.

* * *

She had asked him if they would go to the Dark Castle, but he had shaken his head and replied that too many memories were living there, basking in immortality. So he created a small cottage in the depths of the forest and she enjoyed living there, and taking care of the garden. Her favorite flowers were forget-me-nots and one morning she awoke to the smell of those pretty things (for they had started growing all around their home).

In the gentleness of the night, as she lay in bed curled around him like a kitten, he whispered to her stories unheard from many still (or buried beneath the sands of time), stories he himself thought up and she asked him how it was possible that someone who could tell a tale so divine, could ever be deemed bad. His response to that was a kiss on the nose. Hers was a giggle and a feeling of utter contentment.

Those were days that felt like years, in a good (and rare) way.

"Rum, are you happy here?" she had taken to calling him '_Rum'_ when she jested, but quickly the stupid nickname had become a habit.

"Hmm?"

"Are you happy here, with me?" she asked and only then did he notice how vulnerable and unsure of herself she was, in asking him such question.

"I am," he told her truthfully, with a smile. He felt more touched by the sunlight than he had been in –

– A really long while. "I am. So happy that I don't feel the need to make any deals these days."

"Then… would you allow me to kiss you?" To kiss him? It was a known fact that pregnant women spoke foolish things but…

No, he read the wish in her eyes.

"Why do you want this so much?"

She did not reply, but he saw through the truth again.

She did not want to share him with any magic, she did not want to risk losing him, as she had lost so many others, because he could fall victim to his own darkness at any given moment.

The question was: was he willing to give up on his magic (and he feared he'd be nothing without it)? For her?

He had already lost so much in his bitter desire to keep his curse intact.

_And that is precisely why you should give it up now. Don't lose another chance to be happy because of fear, or a simple addiction to be powerful. Power is always for those who rule alone. And you've been the most powerful man for far too long._

_Do the brave thing and bravery will follow, Rumpelstiltskin. _A voice painfully like Belle's said in his mind.

He looked at Snow and saw the question in her eyes.

* * *

"Miss Blanchard!" Henry yelled as he ran to her.

"Henry!" Mary Margaret greeted her favorite student. "What is it?"

"You have to help me!"

"What happened?" she asked him worriedly.

"I have to help Eugene and Rapunzel get their happily ever after, but Mr. Gold is trying to prevent it!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Mary Margaret stumbled. "Perhaps you should explain to me everything from the beginning, Henry."

The boy looked at her with brilliant eyes. He opened his book of fairytales, showed her a picture of a baby and started telling her the story:

"When Eugene Fitzherbert was still a baby, he got ill and his father, a thief, stole a magical flower that would have saved a queen's life. Eugene got better, thanks to the stolen herb, but he grew into a somber and grave man. He also became a thief but he had a secret: as an after effect of the magical flower, his hands could heal all kinds of wounds and illnesses.

"One day the Blind Witch, greedy with need to be ever young, kidnapped him and imprisoned him in a tower so that he would keep her eternally young with the power of the flower. But then, many years after that princess Rapunzel - the daughter of the deceased queen - ran away from her kingdom because she wanted to experience all kinds of adventures in the world. She found the tower and saved Eugene –"

"But I thought that in the story it was Rapunzel who was locked in the tower!" Mary Margaret said.

"That's only our world's version of it," Henry quickly explained. "Anyway, after many adventures they returned to her kingdom and –though they had many problems with her dad, who was still bitter because it was Eugene's father who had stolen the only chance for his wife's survival – they lived happily ever after. Well, till the curse struck them, that is. But before that, Eugene became a doctor - the same one who had helped you with Emma's birth, in fact."

"Helped me give birth to Emma?" Mary Margaret repeated, feeling faint. Henry nodded.

"In this world, he's Doctor Flynn Rider, but he owns money to Mr. Gold and can't repay him at the moment. And since Mr. Gold doesn't want to give him time, Emma took him to jail. She says that she won't help me get him out, because he's addicted to gambling and it would be better for him to stay there until he agrees to look for help. But I think he'll change once he sees Jenny – she's actually Rapunzel.

"So now I have only you to turn to. You have to speak to Mr. Gold, because, after all, he was your lawyer when the deal with Kathryn happened." Here Mary Margaret flinched – Kathryn, the woman David had returned to, after the whole ordeal of her disappearance. They had decided to give it another go. "Please, do me this favor, Miss Blanchard!" Henry pleaded.

"A favor? As in, a deal?" she asked. Henry looked at her, puzzled.

"A deal." He nodded slowly.

"I'll see what I can do, Henry. But you'll owe me one," Mary Margaret said with a sigh. "As of now, please go home. It's almost five and your mother will be worried sick if you don't arrive till dinner."

"She wouldn't. She doesn't really love me, I've told you. She just pretends," the boy said bitterly.

The woman shook her head.

She still remembered a time when she was but a new teacher and Henry was an ignorant to his parentage but happy kid. And she had seen a bit of Regina Mills' loneliness and bitterness melt away, once Henry entered her life.

Mary Margaret knew that the Mayor loved her son no matter what anyone thought, and she prayed that the boy would realize it one day. She did not know how she knew it - it was almost a motherly thing, only it wasn't because she had never had children. It was a teacher's thing, then.

The teacher knew of the darkness within Regina's heart, she had caught a glimpse of it when she had been visited by her in prison, and she also prayed that once Henry returned her love again, this darkness would be subdued once more.

When her student bid goodbye to her, Mary Margaret sighed and headed to _Granny's_, thinking of Henry's request at the same time.

He had been talking about those fairytales again, but obviously the real problem was that a man named Doctor Flynn Rider was in a desperate situation and he needed to get a postponement from Mr. Gold. And Henry needed _her_ to talk to him.

Mary Margaret sighed again.

They hadn't exactly bonded over the course of her case.

And if this Flynn was really a gambling addict, perhaps he really needed to stay in prison.

But who was she to decide?

Maybe once released, he would realize his problem and look for a solution…

_The first thing I'll do once school ends tomorrow would be to pay Mr. Gold a visit at his pawnshop._ Mary Margaret promised herself. _But right now…_

Right then she had a meeting with Ruby, who had plans for a night out for them and also wanted to introduce her friend to her boyfriend, Hunter.

* * *

The chime of the bells in his shop half-startled her, maybe because of the dark atmosphere of the whole place.

"Miss Blanchard! How nice to see you again!" he said from behind her.

Mary Margaret jumped.

"Mr. Gold!" she exclaimed, holding her hand close to her heart, as if to soothe its rabbit's beats. "You startled me," she breathed.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to do so." They stayed in awkward silence for a moment. "_So!_ How are you doing? Enjoying your freedom well?"

"I'm well, thank you for asking," she replied quietly. Never mind she was still nursing a broken heart and shattered dreams. Never mind she was dreaming about a man who – she now realized – must be _him_. Never mind she had never been more confused all her life. She'd keep those little things about herself, to herself. "And you?" she asked.

His eyes darkened for just a second.

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed lightly.

"Listen, Mr. Gold, I know it may sound strange, but I'm here because of Henry."

"Henry? He's such a nice lad. Though he recently told me I was Rumpelstiltskin."

He still remembered when he took the child from that orphanage, so many miles and years away from here.

He had felt strangely connected to this boy – like he had found a piece of his own magic. But then again, Henry was destined to bring back the Savior who would unravel the curse. In a way, Henry _was_ a piece of his magic.

And once Emma's task was done, Mr. Gold would stay in this world.

It was his only chance for happily ever after. That's why he had made the curse. He had come many times to this world as Rumpelstiltskin, but he had never stayed, had never been able to.

Mary Margaret looked down.

"He does have quite the vivid imagination."

"That, he has, dearie," Mr. Gold replied.

"He wanted me to ask you to give Dr. Flynn a postponement for his payment to you."

"I can do no such thing, I'm afraid," Mr. Gold told her.

"But why? It's not like you need the money instantly!" she exclaimed and caught herself. "Forgive me. I had no place to tell you such things." Mr. Gold nodded. "And yet…" She suddenly continued, startling herself. Why was she opposing Mr. Gold, of all people? "… And yet," she continued, softening her tone, "how could he repay you his debt if he stayed in prison? You should give him the postponement so that he'd be able to repay you."

Mr. Gold regarded her warily.

"Very well," he said. "I'll think about withdrawing my charges."

"Thank you!" Mary Margaret said softly and felt she could kiss his cheek from gladness (because she had somehow managed to convince the most difficult man in town to consider something she wanted).

He smiled at her.

"Is that all you came for, dearie?" he asked soon.

"Oh, yes, it is. Thank you again. I should go. I have a d – an appointment." She told him quickly, feeling embarrassed.

"Well then, goodbye, Miss Blanchard," he said.

"Goodbye, Mr. Gold," she said, unaware that twenty nine years ago, on this date, he had kissed her for the first time and it had felt to her as though the sky had turned into a flaming sea.

* * *

In three weeks time, Prince James started a search for Snow White, when Red could no longer fool him that her friend was with her (and the date for the wedding neared).

Though Rumpelstiltskin knew of this (it was a popular gossip in the nearest village, from where he went to buy some products that were not provided by the forest), he tried to appear in front of Snow as unbothered and ignorant as it was believable. He did not want her to even have the reason to go back to her fiancé.

"I was thinking about Edmund, if it's a boy," his lover told him one morning, as she prepared breakfast (omelet with bacon).

"And if it's a girl?" he asked from where he sat, watching her with joyful eyes.

"Why? Do you know something, Rumpelstiltskin?" she asked suspiciously, still holding the pan. He laughed.

"How can I know the future, my darling? When I'm but a mere man now!" Snow colored.

"I have a feeling it will be a girl, though," she murmured quietly after a while. "If it's indeed a girl, I want her to be called Emma, or Emily. I just have a thing for the letter 'E', I suppose. It reminds me of many good things – 'Easter', 'ever', 'elven', 'ember', 'eyes', 'embrace'…"

"Interesting," he noted. Snow blushed further.

"How do you think the baby will look?" she asked, serving him a plate and sitting on his left side with a portion of her own.

"Don't worry, it won't be gray or golden, if that's what you're thinking of. I think it will look like you – it will have your face, down to the chin, and your courage."

"But she'll probably be a hard rock like her fathe." She caught herself. "Oh, I'm sorry – I'm already speaking as if I'm sure it will be a girl."

"Mothers _do_ have premonitions about such things. I'm guessing you'll be right on this one," Stiltskin told her.

"I wonder if she'll have magic. A little bit, at least?"

"Most probably she will – I'm certain she would at least be able to tell people's desires, like her father. Or when someone is truthful or something as equally helpful. But even if she doesn't have- I'm sure she will change the world."

Snow sank into a thoughtful silence at his words, but soon she kissed his cheek and asked him:

"I never once sought your opinion on the name, you know?"

"To be sure," he agreed.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"How do you want to name her?" He threw an arm around her shoulder, gathering her closer to him.

"Swan White. Let's keep the tradition intact. Was your mother not named Rose White?" Snow nodded. "But we'll figure the name once she is born, my dear. If, it's a 'she', of course. It could always be an Edmund or an Alistair, after all." He kissed her.

They returned to their breakfast (Snow, though only a month pregnant, perhaps just swayed by the common knowledge that pregnant women ate for two, attacked it with viciousness).

He looked at her, a mesmerized smile playing on his lips.

* * *

"Rum, what's happening outside of our home?" Snow demanded one day, when they were lying on the bed of grass and forget-me-nots in the garden.

"We're speaking," he replied.

"You know I did not mean it like that, Rumpelstiltskin," she said seriously. "Tell me," the woman pried softly.

"They are searching all over the realm for you," he told her, after a long moment. She did not appear surprised by much.

"I thought so. I," She looked at him with saddened eyes. "I have to go and call off the wedding, and tell them that I've not been abducted, to tell them not to worry. I have to face the consequences of my actions."

"You will do no such thing," he snarled, thinking about the people's reactions once they learned Rumpelstiltskin had sired Snow White's child.

"But don't you see, Rum? We can't hide here forever and pretend that there is not a search for me out there, or that nothing is wrong!"

"Yes we can," he told her, sure of himself. "And we will."

"You can't always run away, Rumpelstiltskin," Snow said gently, rolled away from his secure hold and returned to the house.

'Watch me.' He wanted to say, but deemed it childish and remained mute.

* * *

He realized that this heaven was over for him the moment he saw the queen's face in the forest, one late afternoon when he went to gather wood.

"Rumple!" she exclaimed. "How nice to see you!"

"What is it, _your majesty_?" he asked with a growl.

"Why so viscous? I've been looking all over the earth just to find you, and such attitude is all I get? To think I wanted to strike a deal with you, but alas – I see you're a _mere_ human now." She looked at the axe he had used to chop trees for hours to no end, like she'd look at a puddle in front of her carriage. "Who's the poor girl? Who have you fooled long enough to love you? Who would want you?"

He could see the anger hidden in her eyes – she hadn't wanted to lose an 'ally' as valuable as he.

"_She's none of your concern_."

"But, Rumple, I'm simply trying to figure it out: who is she? I want to know the name of that girl before she changes her mind and regrets ever meeting you. Your 'true loves' have the habit of throwing themselves from towers, after all."

He snarled and her neck was in his hold in a heartbeat.

"What do you know of love, you cursed witch? You've ripped out your own heart and forgotten what it's like to feel anything but hatred! Shut the hell up and look for someone else to help you with your evil schemes!" He turned to take the axe and the chopped wood – he did not need to be in the presence of this wrench any longer. "Leave me alone and don't ever bother me again. I, after all, am 'but a mere human' now, as you've said yourself."

"Rum!" a voice called from the far distance.

Of all the moments she could make her presence known, she had to choose _this_ one, precisely why? "Rum, where are you?" He had forgotten how much time had passed since he had gone to the forest.

The man turned in panic to see the queen's reaction. Recognition flashed through her majesty's features – how could she not know the voice of her enemy? A voice that had put an end to whatever little chances of happy-ending she had ever had?

"Snow White?" she half-shrieked. "You're with her?" Quickly though, she collected herself. "But surely you must realize that you've got no chance what-so-ever to be with her. Sooner or later, _Prince Charming_ will come to 'save her'. Do you thing he'll be merciful, once he realizes the truth?"

"You underestimate the hearts of the good people, Regina. We've both forgotten what it's like to posses one, but I've learned that a good heart can be selfless and ever-forgiving." The queen's perfectly red, heart-shaped lips cracked a sudden smile.

"Oh, trust me, Rumple: I know something of _hearts_. They all hide away some darkness that just waits to be unleashed – whether its insecurity, or desire, or a suppressed trait –"

"Rumpelstiltskin!" The voice was getting closer.

"In a minute!" he called loudly.

"Alright! I'll go back then! It's awfully cold! I'll make you some hot chocolate!" Stiltskin frowned. He, a simple villager at heart, didn't like anything with chocolate and had no idea how could she ever truly like the liquid.

"Selfless heart? Ha! Don't make me laugh! If Snow White's heart was so selfless, why did she so _selfishly_ run away with you? Why did she choose to betray her so-called friends and her lover and break _their hearts_ for the happiness of her own?" the queen asked. She looked at him, her eyes on fire. "In _this world_, Rumple, you've got no true chance to be with her."

"What do you mean 'in this world'? What do you suggest, move to the other one?"

The queen's smile widened.

"It depends: to which one you're referring to. You see, the deal I was originally intending to strike with you – it was about a curse."

"A curse?" he inquired, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"A really powerful curse for which I'll be needing help. It will transport every one of us to _that_ other world – where all fairy-tales are dead and no one believes in anything..." Rumpelstiltskin remembered _that_ world – his darkest deals he had made there. "Once the curse hits, almost none of us will have memories of our previous lives - safe a selected few, of course. If you help me, maybe I'll help _you_ to finally have that happily-ever-after of yours." Bullshit, he wanted to say. She'd do no such thing, seeing as the only way he could be happy was if _she_ – her worst enemy – was happy too.

And yet… it was such a tempting deal.

The darkness within him awoke and shifted, inching to get closer to the queen from the dungeon Snow White put it into.

"What do you suggest we do, however, your majesty?" he told the queen.

"Seeing as you've lost your magic, 'we' can do nothing – only I can." She looked thoughtfully at him. "How about I practice for the Curse a bit, and turn back everything the way it was before you two met?" She smiled, proud to present him the grandness of her powers. "You'll still be the great Rumpelstiltskin and, since you'll be a sorcerer once more, you'll retrain your memories of that lovely time I'm sure you two spent together, _and_ you could have the power to help _me_."

Stiltskin's eyes darkened.

"I shall agree with you, on one other condition: do not turn _everything_ the way it was before. Because, you see… Snow White's with a child."

"A child?" the queen repeated in a high-pitched voice. "_A child of Snow White's!_"

"You will agree to let it survive through your spell, and not to harm it, or _her_, in any way possible. Otherwise, Regina," he snarled, stepping in so close to her they could have kissed if they wanted to, "you won't be making _any_ deals what-so-ever with _anyone_. Because, _your majesty_, you'll be long _dead_. You understand me?"

"I understand," the queen breathed, never looking away from his eyes. He stepped away from her and smiled.

When he returned home, Snow greeted him with a kiss and a dinner (and hot chocolate with cinnamon for desert). Eugrh.

She asked him why did he bring so little wood when he had stayed out in the forest for so long. To this he responded that he got lost in his thoughts (that was why he must have not originally heard her when she called). They had, by routine, another brief fight about whether or not she'd go to give Prince James an explanation. None of them were willing to give up on their stands.

"Do you love him still?" he asked. She looked down.

"I won't lie to you: I do. But _you're_ the father of my child, Rumpelstiltskin." He felt himself lose control of his emotions.

"So you're with me only because of _this_?" She looked startled, as he motioned towards her stomach.

"No, it's not like that! I love you! You wouldn't have changed if what I felt for you was not true!"

"Well, 'true love' is known to be fickle by far, in my standards." He spat bitterly, thinking of Belle who had betrayed him and then – to top it all – died.

"Look, I'll always love him, as you'll always love _her_ –"

"Don't!" he shouted, stepping as far away from her as he could.

"_LISTEN TO ME, RUMPELSTILTSKIN!_" she yelled so loudly, he was shocked into silence. "Too many times love has been ruined because someone did not have the patience to hear the whole story! Or because he was so stupidly, _foolishly_ doubtful of himself. _I love you_, silly man. _You're the father of my child._ You and I share a bond _no one _could _ever_ replace. I'm willing to put everything from the past precisely there – _in_ _the past_ – but only if _you'll let me _do it! Otherwise, if I don't tell James the truth, I'm going to end up regretting it till the rest of my life. Isn't love enough for you?" she finished, nearing him. "I know you re scared, but – I'm scared too." She pressed her palm to his face and he leaned into her touch. He sighed, feeling the anger slowly die away.

"Alright," he breathed, as their foreheads leaned on one another. If his voice came out too low and too rough, she did not appear to take notice.

"Alright?" Snow repeated, hopeful.

"You can go to him."

"When?" she asked, still not quite believing her ears.

"As soon as you wish." The words ripped unwillingly from his chest.

She said 'thank you' more times than he cared to count and threw her arms around him, kissing every inch of his face.

He winced, though she couldn't see.

She'd see her Prince Charming soon enough, alright.

Later that night, after they had made love, his finger gently traced her profile, his curls falling in her face as he leaned into her. She laughed, because they tickled_._

He repeated her name countless times, his skin buzzing with the magic of it. _Snow White, Snow White, Snow White…Snow…_

He repeated it, as if making up for all the time he wouldn't be able to say it (and get the same reaction of love as he did now).

"_I love you,_" he whispered into her hair. She looked at him with almost unseeing eyes and he knew she was at the brick of sleep. "I _adore_ you," he told her, even more quietly, so as to not disturb her.

However, she still replied:

"When I'm with you, I don't fear falling asleep. I don't fear my dreams. I could take out dragons and witches, curses and impossible distances."

He pulled her even closer to himself, putting his chin just above her head.

* * *

On the morning two days later, he woke up in a lone bed and knew time was reversed (for one, his skin was gray and gaunt again – yet there was no golden dust on him, as usual).

He stumbled out of his house and knew he'd never return there again.

Stiltskin already missed the mother of his unborn child, even though he could still smell her on his clothes – jasmine and rain.

The world was just the same as it was two months ago, but everything was different.

He heard news of Princess Snow White being awoken by Prince James, of their marriage not even two weeks later, and her pregnancy – two more after it. After all, she _had_ been with the prince before she had even been cursed to sleep.

_"I did something."_

_"What?"_

_"You wouldn't like it."_

_"What was it? You're scaring me."_

_"I made a deal with the queen."_

He let himself fall into Cinderella's trap, because it was the only way he could see _her_ and tell her of the only way the curse could be broken (only by their child; he made it so, without Regina knowing – because he knew the witch would do everything within her power to make Snow miserable, no matter what kind of deal she had made with him).

And so, he sat and waited for the curse to strike.

A few hours before it did, her majesty visited him.

"I'm going to her palace. I'm bringing the curse with me, Stiltskin," she announced.

"You won't hurt her," he stated, but it was a clear order.

"No, I won't. I'll just kill her _husband,_" she told him, her eyes shining.

They were the only two people in the world who remembered that time had been reverted.

"_This will hurt her,_ he snarled in rage and pain, because he knew the statement rang true like nothing else.

"Ah, Rumple, but _of course_ I will hurt her. Just not physically."

"When I wake up from the curse…" he threatened. "You're going to _pay_ for this, Regina."

And she _smiled_.

"But, even if you remember your life _here_, you won't remember the two months that _never were_. Surprised?" she mocked, taking in his expression with sweet pleasure. "Whatever power you hold as Rumpelstiltskin that protected you from the spell's affects will be gone when you turn into a human once more." She might as well have squeezed his heart. "Honestly, Rumple, love always turns you into a fool." She turned to go. "Now, if you'll _excuse me_ – I have revenge to get. Sweet victory, at last," she sing-sang and left him alone.

Not even the guards were there- they were all killed by her soldiers.

* * *

As the world was falling apart, Rumpelstiltskin's dungeon was filled with enraged cries and shaking (yet unfailing still) bars.

"_No!_" he yelled, his voice raspy and broken. "Give it back! Reverse the spell! Give her back!"

_No_. He wouldn't despair further, he told himself.

Stiltskin calmed down a bit.

_"I will make another deal with you, Rumpelstiltskin."_

_"Another one? Haven't you learned not to make deals with me, already?"_

_"Oh, like I could be scared by you at this point. For God's sake, I'm the one who sews your shirts… Here's the deal. No matter what, someday, we'll reach each other again."_

_"I rather like this deal."_

_"No matter how much time it takes."_

He might have always been a weak coward, but _she_ – she would save him from his darkness. She'd bring back his happily ever after, just as Emma would bring back everyone's.

Filled with hope and new-found belief, Rumpelstiltskin did something that was rather unnatural in a time when the world was ending:

He laughed.

_"Through time, then."_

_"Through time."_

_"Or a thousand seas."_

_"Or the mist of the curse."_

_"Or a million miles."_

_"Through oblivion."_

_"Or a hundred memories…"_

* * *

When Jack Gold saw Emma Swan for the first time, he was thrilled.

This was their savior - an oxymoron of golden curls, leather jacket and no-nonsense attitude.

He remembered the time her mother had still been pregnant with her (he had always remembered his life as Rumpelstiltskin, although his memories were hazy). And maybe it was because she had been just an unborn baby then, but every time he saw her, he couldn't help but think of rompers and baby giggles and the nursery rhymes he had sung to his son so long ago.

* * *

Mary Margaret wearily looked at the burning sun and exited the school.

Her ill-luck however, decided to make itself known again - for just as she stepped down the stairs, she saw David Nolan, smiling at her.

Unexpected anger burst through her like hot lava and she barely restrained herself from going to him and wiping that smile off his face.

_How dare he smile at me like that? After all those times he broke my heart!_ She thought sourly as she passed him by, crossing the street –

She didn't see the speeding car.

* * *

"…Patient: Mary Margaret Blanchard…"

"… Car accident…"

"… Driver's been arrested by Sheriff Swan..."

" …Found by David Nolan…"

"…Head concussion…"

And then – scary, blissful, painless silence…

Sleep had claimed her once more and for a while she felt as though it was for good this time.

But she did wake up and as soon as she opened her eyes, she remembered.

She remembered Charming and the forest and the wicked queen and the bluebirds and the dwarves and Emma… _Emma!_

Oh, her darling, _darling_ girl…

Who'd believe her except Henry?

Her _grandson_.

_Oh, God. Oh, God._

She couldn't stop hyperventilating.

What could she do except to pretend that nothing had changed?

* * *

The next day, not without a bit breathless tone, she talked to Emma and asked of the man who had hit her with the car. It turned out that he was just some boy, who had been hurrying for a date with his girlfriend.

'Well, he won't be hurrying for anywhere anytime soon, if _I_ have my way with it,' Emma had said.

Other visitors included Henry, from whom she could just _barely_ keep her secret (she trusted he wouldn't tell Regina, but he was just a little boy after all - anything could slip in an emotional moment).

Dav- Charmin- James also had tried to visit her, but she was not ready to see him just _yet_.

* * *

A few days later, she insisted to be released and claimed that she was definitely _better_ now.

Though not without some hesitation on the side of the nurses and the doctors, she was finally released and she headed straight home for a much needed relaxation bath.

The scent of jasmine and forest combined (like her bath salts) always comforted her somehow (it had especially done so during her pregnancy).

After she felt better, she headed towards the couch in her bedroom where she planned to curl into and read a nice book that had nothing to do with fairy-tales. She needed to take her mind off from all of this madness (being trapped in a time loop by an evil curse for the last twenty-eight years, being the same age as her own daughter who had grown up so much, gone through so much because she, her mother, hadn't been there for her…).

As she entered the room- without any warning- a second wave of memories assaulted her. She was so overwhelmed by them that she lost balance for a second and, in trying to grab something to steady herself, she knocked down everything that stood on her mirror of vanity.

She had once loved a dark sorcerer, the most powerful of them all –

Emma wasn't born too early, she was born _on time_ –

Mr. Gold… the man from her dreams – the caged being behind the bars –

Rumpelstiltskin.

* * *

After her infamous car accident, strangely, the first place Miss Blanchard visited was his pawnshop.

She looked at him as though she had seen a ghost, as though she wanted to hit him… or do something equally as active?

He wondered seriously if the accident had made her remember of her life as Snow White.

But then she did something even stranger than visiting him without any reason what-so-ever and behaving in such bizarre – she smiled at him. And she asked him of his first name, by the by (_"It's Jack, dearie,"_ he answered, but his voice betrayed how flabbergasted he felt). And then, as if all this emotions that passed through her face were too much for her to bear, or she had decided she had been successful in shocking him, she left.

He watched her back long after she had gone out of the door, until her figure disappeared completely from the last corner his shop allowed him to see.

_How extremely… curious._ He smiled, thinking of this new, more daring side of the elementary school teacher.

* * *

She asked him out for a dinner. Just like that. The town's menace, Mr. _Jack_ Gold, was asked out by the once meek teacher Miss Mary Margaret Blanchard.

And she was terrified, of course.

It still ached oh so much in her heart – how he didn't remember the little time they had spend together in that cottage, or how it was _him_ who awoke her from the queen's curse, and how she _still_, after twenty nine years, owed him 'anything'.

It hurt her, how he and Emma could not stand each other, or how Henry was afraid of him, because – after all – Rumpelstiltskin or Mr. Gold, he was the stuff of people's nightmares.

He… _agreed_, though not without much convincing on her part (she couldn't allow herself to shy away from him, just because at first he seemed… reluctant).

She was the one cooking (she had politely told Emma not to return to the apartment until after midnight; 'When he'll be turned into a pumpkin?' Emma joked, after Mary Margaret convinced her, as much as it was possible, that it was _not_ the _healed_ head concussion that invited Mr. Gold for a date).

Mary Margaret already knew what he liked to eat (but would she also prepare him his ill-liked hot chocolate, just in case it stirred some memories).

As she made the dinner (like she had done so many times during the time they lived together), she looked at her hands – they were gentle and soft, but they were not a mother's hands. She had never even once held her daughter, never cleaned overturned porridge, or nursed her child.

And _he_… he hadn't even seen her as a baby. Emma's last moments in her home world had been spent looking at the face of a brave and noble man who loved her as a father would, but wasn't _her_ father.

* * *

He didn't remember the first time.

But he did tell her he'd return the favour.

And it was enough, for the moment.

She didn't lose hope. She planned to keep her end of the deal.

One afternoon, when the sun was setting like a blazing fire in the skies, as they sat on a bench, she couldn't help but smile at the irony of the situation. He was sitting next to the woman who loved him and he didn't even know it.

"Forgive me for prying, my dear, but how did your heart change so suddenly?" he asked her then.

She looked at the man she knew down to the scar on his thigh, and smiled.

"It did not change, Jack. You could say it… reverted back to what it had originally been." He looked at her in confusion. "I _had_ once been strong, courageous and selfish, even."

"Selfish?" he repeated. "Though I barely knew you before, I don't remember ever hearing about you being anything but selfless."

His words cut into her more than her could ever realize.

"Oh, but I was – once. Once upon a time, I had betrayed everyone who loved me for the sake of being with the man _I_ loved."

"Mr. Nolan, I gather?" She did not reply.

"He… was a coward, and did something I did not like. Something that lead us to be separated for far too longer than we should have." The woman looked at him and saw his utter bewilderment.

"What did he do?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter – I've already forgiven him for it. Seems I can never stay mad at this man for long, especially since he –" _He doesn't remember what he did._ "What do you think of true love, Jack?"

He looked away, somber at once.

"It's overrated," he quickly replied.

"Funny, that's what I think too... And yet –" She found herself mustering the same sudden courage she had on the day she visited him because of Eugene Fitzherbert. "And yet, do you think it can overcome the obstacles thrown on its way?" He shook his head.

"No, not always."

"Not even Time?"

"Especially not time," he told her. "Even if Time itself cannot erase the memory of it, but simply torture us."

Her heart faltered.

"Or a thousand seas?" He looked at her strangely. "Or mist, or a million miles. Oblivion, or –"

"A hundred memories," He finished. "How did you know this verse, Mary Margaret? It's been haunting my dreams for –"

"For the last twenty-eight years?"

"You remember the curse…" he stated, looking her with fascination and wonderment. "And yet why…" _Why are you showing such interest in me?_

"Before the curse," she began in a cracked whisper– she really couldn't raise her voice–

She could not continue.

"What happened before the curse?" he demanded, sounding almost angrily desperate, as though he too felt something stir in the dark and forgotten corners of his soul.

"This," she breathed, as she kissed him.

It was a kiss soon returned with the same enthusiasm.

"Snow!" he exclaimed in a voice that was just a pitch too high and kissed her again. "My lovely Snow!"

And she laughed through her tears, as he planted millions of kisses on her, holding her as tightly as he dared to. "My lovely, wonderful Snow White! You've brought back my magic! And most importantly – yourself!"

* * *

Still so much remained that could tear them apart. They still had to break the curse and release everyone (though they would later agree that they'd stay _there_). And her friends (and his daughter) absolutely hated him. And once James remembered, there was going to be a long-overdue, uncomfortable, heart-breaking explanation. And even their own characters were sometimes in a clash – they were not perfect and they both had their thorns which would possibly always remain sharp.

But they believed they would make it. Simply because they both had the bitter experience of a heart broken too many times and knew that this one time there would be no breaking (but mending instead).

They had courage. And, oh no, courage is not when one is unafraid.

It's when one is deathly afraid, but still doesn't give up.

Did they really succeed? Only the veiled future would know. There wasn't a promised 'and they lived happily ever after together'.

But one thing could be said for sure (because they promised it to each other):

_They would live __(__together)._


End file.
